The line graph above illustrates the global water consumption by three sectors (agriculture, industrial, and domestic use) from 1900 to 2000, while the table compares water usage in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the year 2000. Overall, based on the line graph, global water consumption increased significantly across all three sectors, with agriculture being the dominant consumer, and Brazil had much higher water consumption per person than the Democratic Republic of Congo.
When the line chart is considered, it can be clearly seen that global water consumption in agriculture has increased most rapidly (especially from about 1950 onwards), starting from about 500 km³ in 1900 and rising to approximately 3000 km³ in 2000. When it comes to industrial water usage, although starting low in 1900, it began to increase sharply from 1940 onwards, reaching nearly 1200 km³ in 2000. Lastly, domestic water usage showed the smallest increase, rising gradually from 1900 to 2000 but still remaining well below 500 km³.
In 2000, Brazil had a much larger population (176 million) compared to Congo’s 5.2 million. In terms of water consumption, Brazil consumed around 26500 km³ of water, translating to an average of 359 m³ per person, while Democratic Republic of Congo used only 100 km³ of water in the same year, resulting in an average water consumption of 8 m³ per person. This shows that water consumption rates in Brazil are significantly higher than in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although the population density in Brazil is higher, the per capita water consumption is significantly higher than usual, which proves that each individual in Brazil uses significantly more water than the people of Congo. The main reason for this is that Brazil has 26,500 km² of irrigated land, which is many times larger than Congo (100 km²).
In conclusion, global water consumption has increased significantly, with agriculture being the largest user of water, which is also why Brazil has an unusually high water consumption due to its larger irrigated land area. The data shows the important role of agriculture in total global water consumption and the impact of irrigation systems on each country’s water needs.